Henry Clay Frick

the long version

Martha Frick Symington Sanger, a great-grand-daughter of Henry Clay Frick, draws on her family memories and unprecedented access to personal letters and private family diaries at the Frick archives to create this intimate, penetrating biography. Prior to this revealing account, Frick's private life has been largely unknown. This insider's portrait of Frick, a world famous art collector and steel tycoon, discloses for the first time the triumphs as well as the tragedies of his remarkable life. In addition, the author distills more than a decade of research and interviews into the most extensive examination of the creation of the Frick art collections ever included in a single volume. She explains the attractions and motivations that guided Frick and his daughter Helen Clay Frick to acquire their outstanding collections of painting, sculpture, and other art. Illustrating the book are approximately 390 pictures, including about 200 in full color, ranging from painting and sculpture in both The Frick Collection and Frick's former Pittsburgh residence, now the Frick Art and Historical Center, to family portraits, many of which have never before been published, and historical images.